Hi,
Right OK!
First,
I've been playing with a few free 'couple of clicks GUI frontends and out pops your DVD' programs.
Currently have installed:DVDforger 062alphaFAVC 1.06DVDFlick 1.2.2.1
Tried a few others but found these the best so far. Get good results with all but time to stick with one, one thats an active project that updates come out regular, when encoders etc have newer versions.
Anyone using anything they think is better, like faster but higher quality at the same time, proper auto detection of input file, etc?
So who has tried/uses the above software, and any others so you can compare them?

I'm not worried about menu's etc, not really played with them yet.
I like the option to create an iso so I can test it then burn later if it looks good.

Second question is the encoders!HCQuEncFFMPEG
So the above frontend GUI software passes the commands to these programs?
So what encoder to use?
Are some more reliable than others? Faster? Better output?
I only have 1GB of RAM on this box , will an upgrade make a little speed difference? None? Video converted in half the time?

Thought I would stick in a wee poll, please register your vote. Sure it will be useful for something

Why bother to re-convert? too many divx players , also watchable on PC if necessary. Waste of time money and effort.

THINK OF THE CHILDREN, FFS :P

All I want to do is convert my avi files to a DVD to watch on a TV, lend to mates, whatever.
They are already avi files, some compressed different.
Sometimes I record some programme series off TV and cut out the adverts etc, ending up with an avi, that I convert to DVD to watch on TV when I like.
Do the same with some of the kids programmes for my son, so he then has his 'favourite DVD' with hours of kids stuff.

For most stuff you will get very good results using favc with hc as your encoder.

Thanks for taking time to reply!
But what settings do you use for FAVC?
For example what preset to you use? Speed, Balance or Quality?
Also, in the Audio Options tab, have you tried the Normalize option for the volume? If you have does it make the sound any better, worth using this option? Does it add much longer to the making of the DVD?
Anyone else used this?

Personally I use a front end that I wrote myself. HCbatchGUI which is a front end gui for hcenc, aften, dgpulldown. It will do pretty much everything that favc will do but won't create a dvd for you. You end up with elementary video and audio streams that you can then use to author a dvd yourself using software like gui4dvdauthor. I like authoring the dvd myself so that I can create much nicer looking menus than the basic ones that most all in ones produce.

Honestly if you are just wanting to create basic dvd's with simple no frill's menus then just stick with favc/hcenc and use the best profile settings.

Why bother to re-convert? too many divx players , also watchable on PC if necessary. Waste of time money and effort.

THINK OF THE CHILDREN, FFS :P

By reconvert do you mean converting my avi file to a DVD that will play in any cheapo basic DVD player?
I prefer to get the movie onto a DVD and watch it on a big TV, sitting with my feet up on a comfy sofa, instead of on this 19" monitor in this office chair. Better sound setup on my TV too.
Why am I wasting money?
Effort?, I would say I'm learning something about video converting.
Time?, just something I'm messing around with in my spare time.